Tag: partisan

  • Oops, I Did It Again

    Oops, I Did It Again

    I set a goal for myself in 2025: stay off Meta platforms as much as possible and, under no circumstances, argue with right-wing trolls.

    Oops. I guess I didn’t reach that goal.

    Looking back at my social media presence, you’ll find an opinionated elder-millennial using Facebook as their primary platform. I hate social media, but like most others, I haven’t been able to escape it. It’s how I promote my creative projects, podcasts, and blog. It’s where my wife tags me and the kids, keeping extended family updated on our lives. Facebook Messenger has even been the hub for most of our brand’s business chats.

    It’s deeply integrated into my life—even though I hate it.

    But after 2024, I decided that arguing with the close-minded trolls of the internet was futile. I resolved to protect my sanity and redirect my energy elsewhere in 2025.

    Then, a friend of mine—who’s more like family—started stirring things up. After a significant milestone in their life passed, they began diving headfirst into right-wing posting. Sure, this friend has always enjoyed internet arguments. They’ll call others out for not listening to different viewpoints, yet they’ve consistently shut down those who take a hard stance against them. However, back when their posts had a more centrist tone, it felt different.

    As many of you know, there’s no middle ground anymore. The only response to A is Z. The only answer to black is white. The only way to mobilize a recently lethargic political base is to incite anger about the other side’s beliefs.

    Over the course of a week, this friend shared several articles daily. Many, I ignored. But one post—just before they shared a satire website as if it were fact—touched on immigration. It was a brief post, designed solely to create chaos.

    That’s when I found myself in the middle of their comment section, defending logic and sanity to a stranger who countered with nonsense and echo-chamber rhetoric.

    The whole ordeal was pointless.

    As I have for years, I thought facts could correct the misinformation. But in the adjacent comment thread, I saw a progressive individual locked in debate with two conservatives. The conservative duo demanded the progressive cite sources they deemed acceptable (so no real news, since that’s all “fake news”). Meanwhile, one of them repeatedly claimed, “I’ve done the research,” as their sole evidence and source. They used the standard Republican strategy of deflection—accusing the left of lying, being violent, and echoing Trump and Musk without offering proof. Of course, they also hurled the tired accusation of “TDS” (Trump Derangement Syndrome) at anyone opposing their views.

    As I considered jumping into that conversation to call out their hypocrisy and willful ignorance, I remembered my 2025 goal: don’t engage.

    Instead, I directed my energy more productively. I enacted a five-point plan:

    1. Write to representatives: I sent letters to my Congressman and Senators. I reminded Senator Bennett that when he runs for Governor in a few years, he’ll need to stand on the shoulders of those demanding he speak up now. I told Congressman Gabe Evans that his actions don’t align with his constituents’ values.
    2. Support local campaigns: Knowing Gabe Evans won’t change course—especially since his 2024 campaign relied on lies about the Democratic incumbent—I signed up for updates from candidates challenging him in the 2026 election. Offering my services to help in those upcoming campaigns.
    3. Donate to causes: I contributed to organizations affected by this administration’s policies. My choice was Planned Parenthood, but food banks, veteran services, LGBTQ+ charities, and others are also in need.
    4. Create: I worked on my comic book projects, hosted a livestream sale on WhatNot, and wrote this article. Instead of channeling my written word into arguments with the willfully ignorant, I focused that typing on projects that energize me.
    5. Protest: I joined thousands of others in a day of protest, ensuring this country’s leadership knows we won’t stand for what is happening.

    I don’t list these actions to pat myself on the back. They aren’t groundbreaking. But when faced with the choice between arguing with someone entrenched in their echo chamber or investing my energy in meaningful efforts, I chose the latter.

    Which brings me to the point of this opinion piece: what’s your five-point plan?

    It doesn’t have to involve money or protesting. It doesn’t even need to include creating content. But it should be something worthwhile—something more impactful than an online argument. Your plan should bring you joy, give your community a boost, and address today’s political and social challenges. It should be a step toward a better future.

    It can be as simple as reading a book to educate yourself or as ambitious as running for office.

    The next time you’re tempted to argue with that contrarian relative during a family gathering, take a breath and pivot. When you feel like linking sources to refute the claims of an internet acquaintance or stranger labeling anything progressive as socialism or communism, step away.

    Take a breath.

    Turn to your five-point plan.

    You don’t have to use all five points every time; even one can make a bigger difference than trying to enlighten the unyielding.

    As my lawyer once told me about my ex-wife, and as it applies to internet trolls: “Never wrestle with pigs. You both get dirty, and the pig likes it.” (Shaw)

  • Another Hearing Becomes GOP Circus

    Another Hearing Becomes GOP Circus

    On Wednesday, March 5th, the Republican-led House Oversight Committee called Eric Adams of New York, Mike Johnston of Denver, Brandon Johnson of Chicago, and Michelle Wu of Boston to testify in front of Congress about one of America’s hottest political topics: immigration.

    These four mayors have a few things in common. Most notably, they are all Democrats hailing from Democrat-governed states. More importantly, they’re all from well-known cities that saw Texas Governor Gregg Abbott and Florida Governor Ron DeSantis send immigrants, by the literal busload, with more than 100,000 of them pouring into those locations from Texas alone.

    If it sounds like a bad game of politics, well, that’s because it is. And if you were expecting nothing short of a spectacle, the far-right delivered.

    As expected, the most notorious of the far-right representatives were present and ready to turn the Capitol into a circus. There was the promiscuous Lauren Boebert, the vile and lie-spewing Marjorie Taylor Greene, and the abuse-enabling Jim Jordan. Each ready with their usual slate of weird and partisan questions for these mayors.

    Boebert asked asinine questions and then used the event to send out a fundraiser before the hearing was even over. Greene talked about Laken Riley, who was murdered in the Republican-governed state of Georgia, not any of the four cities represented at the hearing. And Jordan, who at least picked an individual from one of these cities, grilled Denver’s Johnston on Abraham Gonzalez, an alleged gang member who was actually detained by Denver Police and handed over to ICE.

    But it was Rep. Nancy Mace of South Carolina who was hoping to be featured on Fox News the most, with her frequent far-right soundbites coming at the four mayors in rapid succession.

    Mace’s questions for these qualified mayors, who have governed some of the country’s largest municipalities, included, “When an illegal immigrant rapes a woman, do you believe you’re on the right side of history?” and “Do you hate Donald Trump more than you love your country?” and “Do you love illegal aliens more than you love your fellow countrymen?”

    Questions that she intertwined with insults towards all four mayors, without giving them much room to answer and giving them no real reason to even be present when slinging mud such as that.

    Rep. Anna Paulina Luna from Florida might have taken home the award for Bonehead of the Day when she announced plans to “criminally” refer all four mayors to the U.S. Department of Justice for investigation. An announcement that the United States Attorney General Pam Bondi, one of Trump’s most loyal cronies, was likely salivating at, but in reality, had no binding.

    None of that mattered anyway. Because in the end, there are two big points that Republicans are dredging up and are unequivocally wrong about. That was proven when the Republicans questioning these mayors actually remained on topic: crime and the mayors themselves breaking the law.

    Every lie Republican representatives told was clearly and factually disputed. Every news story they tried to quote from 2020 or prior was met with clear and concise data showing violent crime rates dropping across three of the four cities (Boston, Denver, New York).

    Not that it will matter when the soundbites go out, as the Republican voters will hear what they want to hear.

    And then there’s the matter of these four breaking federal law.

    “I don’t think anyone in this room could define what ‘sanctuary city’ is,” Johnston wisely stated at one point. He stood defiant, knowing the threat to jail him and his colleagues, along with the threat to reduce or even stop federal funding to their states, has no real ground. Not that Trump and his allies need ground to justify their actions. That is because Johnston knows there’s no legal definition for sanctuary city policies, and these municipalities, although more defiant than some about overreach, do cooperate with federal officials when necessary.

    If anything, Rep. Luna should be directing her threat of recommending charges at the real criminal officials in this matter, Governor Abbott and Governor DeSantis. Both governors squandered their taxpayers’ dollars by turning people’s lives into a political spectacle as they sent these human beings to these cities being questioned.

    Denver, along with the other three cities represented today, has its issues. Denver’s Johnston has seen a booming city face unprecedented growth, a forced influx of immigration, and a stalling economy that has caused economic and financial hardships. New York Mayor Adams is likely a criminal, but for an entirely separate reason. And Chicago continues to see corruption while Boston has many issues a large melting pot tends to have.

    But in this situation, not just at the Capitol today, but through it all, these mayors and their administrations have shown compassion and care towards a large number of individuals that had become pawns in Republican officials’ games.

    That compassion is something Boebert, Greene, and Jordan will never have. It’s something Abbott and DeSantis won’t learn. And it’s something that couldn’t get into Trump even with an enema full of it.

    When Republicans continue to use people’s lives as political fodder, whether legally here or not, one has to hope that those on the far right who claim they have Christian values actually stand up and display those values. Because we know those they are voting for won’t.